This paper represents the fourth Red List of the breeding birds of Germany since the re-unification in 1989. It was again compiled by the German Committee for Red Data Birds and replaces the third Red List published in 2

This paper represents the fourth Red List of the breeding birds of Germany since the re-unification in 1989. It was again compiled by the German Committee for Red Data Birds and replaces the third Red List published in 2002 (BAUER et al. 2002a). For the first time it adopts the classification system developed by LUDWIG et al. (200S) for all organismic groups, thus allowing a direct comparison of the threat situation between different taxonomic entities. Population size, short-term trend (25 years) and long-term trend (50-150 years) form the basic parameters of red list categorization of species, with specific threat factors serving as a tool to elevate the category in case of negative future prospects. The categorization process is documented fully in the appendix list for each individual species rendering it completely transparent. The DDA developed a new tool to gather data from the 16 federal states incorporating the available information from all national monitoring schemes in order to alleviate regional trend and population assessments. This in tum made the trend and population data received from the 16 federal states even more reliable and comprehensible. The long-term trend was worked out in the Red List Committee in a multiple-step process. Before entering the actual classification process, species were assigned to different status categories with only the regularly breeding native birds finally being subjected to the red-listing process. All in all, the Red List of 2007 encompasses 260 regular breeding birds in Germany, with a further 25 sporadic breeding species confined to status II and 29 non-native species to status III (20 of which being regular breeders). lhe total number of breeding bird species initially assessed thus reached 314, the highest number ever reported on in German Red Lists. Altogether, 110 species had to be assigned to one of the five threat categories of the Red List 2007 (0 = extinct, 1 = critically endangered, 2 = endangered, 3 = vulnerable, R = extremely rare), this represents 42.3 % of all regularly breeding species, a slightly smaller share than in the previous list. It was gratifying to note that two formerly "extinct" species have again bred regularly during the assessment period (2000-2005), namely Wood Sandpiper and Rock Thrush, whereas in contrast one has been lost as a breeding species, the Roller. It is for the first time since the inception of German Red Lists in 1971 that species such as Black Stork, Peregrine, White-tailed Eagle and Eagle Owl could be removed completely from any threat category, a huge success of decades of intensive protection measures introduced by large numbers of volunteer (and professional) bird conservationists. This is ample evidence that conservation can be worthwhile in threatened species. Yet, with Lesser Spotted Eagle, Little Tern and Curlew (among others) the trend is opposite, despite massive conservation action, showing that some concepts and measures have been far from successful. Furthermore, the category "critically endangered" now encompasses 30 species, the highest number ever to be listed there since the re-unification of Germany. Birds facing the most marked threats among the German avifauna are ground-nesting species, large-insect eaters and long-distance migrants. The highest percentage of threatened species is thus found in gallinaceous birds, rails, waders, and shrikes, whereas owls and "chats/thrushes" are under comparatively little threat. In addition, typical "ordinary" birds of Germany have lost cunsiderable parts of their populations, which is manifested in their population size and trends, hut less in the threat categories of the current Red List. Further intensification of land use in agriculture and forestry in recent years are very worrying and could get even more "every-day" species into trouble. The present Red List again gives ample evidence of the rather poor state of the German avifauna. In future, the assessment of population sizes and threats will be made easier due to the massively expanded national monitoring programmes in Germany. But meanwhile, well-directed conservation of species and policies towards more "nature-friendly" land use systems need to be surported even more vigorously in order to stop the continuing decline in bird diversity (per unit area) or at least to reduce its speed of decline. Key words: Red data list, breeding birds, population size data, population development, threat factors, Germany